Braving the Storm
by RHfan
Summary: April poured out her heart to Jackson. She laid it all out on the line. What will she be left with after she's given him her all? A story about April and Jackson after the season 9 finale.


Here's a little snippet about our favorite Greys couple, April and Jackson. This takes place right at the end of the season 9 finale, after April confesses to Jackson. September seems so far away and I don't know if I can wait that long to see what happens with them. So until then, here's something a little fluffy for you.

* * *

"I want you, Jackson."

Jackson stared at the impossibly tiny red headed girl in front of him. Her hair was still in the ponytail she wore earlier but it was wet now from being out in the storm. He thought she looked even more beautiful like this, natural.

"I want YOU!"

Jackson couldn't believe what he was hearing. She had just gotten engaged not even 48 hours ago.

"April…"

"I haven't been fair to you I know, and I…I've really hurt you."

"And you're getting married." He interrupted her, thinking that she clearly wasn't thinking straight.

"When that bus exploded, and I thought you were gone I…"

"You're getting married." He pushed that statement harder.

Jackson watched her eyes as they were filling with tears. April looked scared. Scared of the fact that she could have lost Jackson in her life for good, scared that her recent engagement was probably not going to be happening, scared of Jackson's reaction to her confession? Probably all of the above. He listened as she nearly whispered her final statement.

"…unless you can give me a reason not to."

Jackson continued to look at her as she stood before his hospital bed. Her arms were down to her sides, her shoulders were slumped, and her face was sullen. She looked both beautiful and terrible at the same time. She almost looked defeated. Jackson sighed and finally was able to take his eyes off of hers. He didn't know what to say. She was supposedly in love with another guy, getting married to him soon, and now she tells him that it's really him that she wants to be with.

"April, I just…" Jackson trailed off. He still didn't know what he wanted to say to her.

April watched as he continued to open and close his mouth, and everytime she thought he might finally say something to her, anything really. She just wanted an answer, wanted to know how he felt about her, but it looked like she wouldn't be getting one.

"It's fine Jackson. You don't have to say anything. I have to go, I got a page." April whispered as she turned around and walked out of the curtains.

"April…"

But she was already gone.

* * *

Jackson looked up as he saw the curtains open. His first instinct was that maybe April had come back to talk to him, but he was wrong. It was just his good friend Alex Karev.

"Hey dude, heard about what happened. You are one crazy bastard for doing what you did. You should totally be dead right now."

"Thanks, Karev." Jackson chuckled. "You sound so sincere."

"For real man. Not everyone could do what you did, saving that little girl like that."

"I couldn't leave her, knowing how scared she probably was, I just couldn't leave her to die. She's 3 years old. I haven't even seen her since I brought her in, how's she doing?"

"She's alright. Scrapes, bumps, bruises, you know. Nothing major thanks to you."

"That's good to hear."

"I still can't believe you went into a burning bus that was about to explode."

"Well I'm just that amazing I suppose."

Alex and Jackson shared a smile before Alex's smile fell from his face.

"Hey. I want to ask you something. On my way down here from the NICU I stopped in a supply closet for some new gloves and I saw Kepner. She looked pretty upset, I could see she had been crying. I asked her what was wrong, but she just snapped at me and told me to mind my own damn business. You know anything about what could be bugging her? I thought she would be on cloud 9 since getting engaged to that paramedic."

Jackson sighed. "She's had a rough night, like all of us. Dealing with the power outage, the bus, the craziness in the pit. She's stressed."

"I've seen stressed out April Kepner. She runs around and gives orders all of the time, and she talks a lot when she is getting stressed. This is not that. It's something else dude."

"Well I don't know what it is, okay? Why do you assume I know everything about that girl."

"Because THAT GIRL is supposed to be your best friend. I would figure you would know what's wrong since she's sobbing in a supply closet."

"I don't want to talk about it."

"What did you do Avery?"

"I didn't do anything okay! She's the one who came in here and told me that she wanted me, and that she wanted me to give her a reason to break off her engagement. What was I supposed to say? 'Oh April, I'm madly in love with you, please leave your perfect fiancé and come back to me so that I can screw up your life even more.'"

"Yes! That's exactly what you should say, minus the screwing up her life part. She wants you to fight for her. Listen man, tonight I finally told Jo that I was in love with her. Was I scared, hell yeah. I was beyond terrified, I'm so worried that I'm going to screw things up, but not telling her and not being with her has been so miserable. You have been without April for months now, and you have been miserable, anyone can see that. All you have to do is tell April that you want her too and you can both be happy. I want to see you guys be happy."

"I just don't know."

"Avery, you do love Kepner right?"

Jackson sighed and looked away from his friend. "More than anything. But we've hurt each other so much."

"It's okay. You both forgive and you move on, and you go be in love and get married and have a bunch of little snot nose Avery brats."

Jackson smiled at Alex's comment about having kids with April, but didn't respond.

"I have to get back to the NICU. Think about what I said man."

"Thanks Alex. Hey, do me a favor? Check on April for me, make sure that she's okay."

"I'll make a pit stop to that supply closet and make sure she's alright."

* * *

"Hey. Thought I would still find you here." Alex Karev said as he walked into the supply closet where he had last seen April Kepner. She was still in the same spot on the floor, and he could see that she was still crying but it wasn't as hard as it was earlier.

Yeah I'm still here."

"Well I just went down to check on Avery. He seems to be doing pretty well physically."

"That's good."

"So you want to tell me what's wrong? I know you didn't want to say anything earlier but maybe now that you seem to have calmed down you will want to share."

I don't really want to talk to you."

"Well why not? I know I'm not your first choice, but I'm not that bad."

"Alex, I don't really want to tell you because anything I've ever said to you, you used it to make fun of me later."

"That may be true. But I've grown, I'm a different person now, and I promise I only want to help. And I sort of promised Avery that I would look after you while he's laid up in that bed. I heard about what happened, you telling him you wanted him and wanting him to give you a reason to end things with your paramedic."

April put her head in her hands. She knew people would start to find out about this. It wasn't really a private room, someone probably heard her. Also, Jackson and Alex are friends, of course if he wanted to talk about it with someone it would be Alex.

"I just don't know where my life is going right now." April started to speak. The tears continued to roll down her cheeks. "I'm in love with a guy who might not love me back. I'm not a board certified surgeon so I feel really inadequate about myself in my job. I just ended my engagement with a perfect guy, and I wasn't even engaged for more than 2 days. I feel like my life is in limbo."

"Wait, you already ended your engagement?"

"Yes. I told Matthew that no matter what Jackson's answer was, I couldn't marry him. Matthew's great, but my heart is not fully invested in that relationship and I can't do that to him. He understood at least for the most part."

"Well I think you did the right thing by doing that. I know I may not show it very often, but I do care about you April, I want you to be happy. You were happy with Matthew, but not like you are with Avery. Don't settle for someone who doesn't make you the happiest person on earth."

"You're right."

"And don't worry, you are retaking the boards again soon. You are going to kick ass, and then you will become board certified and you will feel better about your job."

"Okay, what about my biggest problem?"

"Which one was that?"

April sighed. "Jackson doesn't love me."

"Well I for one don't believe that's true. I think he loves you more than you will ever know. He's just in a bit of shock. The guy goes from watching you get engaged one night, to nearly getting blown up by a bus the next night, and then you pummel the man and confess that you would rather have him than Mr. Paramedic. You may need to just give him a night to take it all in. Talk to him in the morning, after he's had a chance to sleep on it. Maybe then he will be ready to talk."

Alex had talked to Jackson before he caught up with April, so he knew that the plastic surgeon was in love with the red headed woman, but he was just having some troubles and needed a bit of time to process before he could really give April her answer.

"Look April, ask him again tomorrow and I'm sure he will have an answer for you."

"Yeah, okay. I'm going to head back down into the pit, I'll see you a little while later?"

Alex nodded. "Yeah, I'll see you later Kepner." Alex stood up and walked towards the door. As he reached for the handle he heard April speak.

"Alex. Thank you."

He turned his head around to meet her eyes. "Sure.

* * *

"Hey Jackson, how's the arm feeling?" Callie asked as she walked through the curtains that separated his bed from the others.

"It's alright when I don't move it. When I shift, my whole chest tightens."

"Not too much pain though right?"

"No not really pain, just discomfort."

"Well that's why I have you in this bed. Moving is only going to agitate your arm and your shoulder. Your chest probably feels tight from the smoke inhalation. That will pass in a few hours with the meds. For now just sit tight and relax."

"Yeah, right."

Callie looked to the man in the bed. He was looking away from her, almost lost in thought. He had a lot on his plate right now. He was a surgeon, and he was newly running a hospital, and this storm was causing a lot of chaos, and he had nearly been blown up in an explosion. But there was something else, and Callie knew what it was.

"You alright?"

"Yeah, I just have a lot to think about right now, and unfortunately being confined to this bed I have a lot of time to think about things."

"Do these things have anything to do with Dr. Kepner?"

"How do you know about that?"

"Dude, hello, I was there when she came barreling into the exam area and nearly shoved you out of the chair."

Jackson chuckled. "April couldn't shove me out of a chair if she tried. She's so small."

Callie smiled at his comment. "Well she sure was mad at you that's for certain."

"I did something pretty stupid, even though you all know it was for a good reason. Of course she was mad."

"She was mad alright, but she was clearly more upset. Upset because she thought she lost you."

"Well I'm fine. I'm right here. I didn't die and she shouldn't be that upset."

"Oh come on Jackson. Don't you get it? I know you do, because I heard April come in here awhile ago and confess her love for you. I heard her tell you how she wants to break off her engagement to be with you. April Kepner is in love with you damnit, and everyone knows that. Everyone also knows that you love her too. Just because you had some sort of fight and decided not to be together anymore, doesn't make that love disappear. You two belong together, and I think tonight proves that you can't wait any longer. You almost died tonight, and you can't deny that. If you two love each other, then you suck up your pride and you kiss her damnit and you get married, and have a bunch of little Avery babies, and you live happily ever after."

Jackson smiled. "You're the second person tonight to mention April and I having children."

"Maybe because we think it would be damn adorable."

"I'm going to tell you something Callie. Something that I usually wouldn't say because I'm a man and this isn't very manly. The reason that I am so hesitant to get back together with April is because I'm scared. I'm scared of her hurting me, and I'm scared of hurting her. Even though April and I were never technically together, we were in my mind. I invested my heart into us and after we thought she might be pregnant and I asked her to marry me, I was never the same. I was so ready to marry her, and have a family. Truth is I still am. I'm just so scared to really put my heart out there with her again."

"You don't think April is scared? Don't you think she was scared when she came in here to tell you how she felt about you? Don't you think she's scared right now, wondering what you are going to say to her when you guys see each other again? Don't you think she was scared when she ran towards that bus before it exploded because she wanted to make sure you were safe?"

"Wait. She did what?"

Callie looked at his face. His brow was furrowed in confusion. He didn't know that she had ran after him.

"Nothing. It's not important. My point is…"

"No, stop. What are you talking about, April running towards the bus as it exploded?"

Callie sighed. "When April realized that you weren't behind us, she saw you at the back of the bus and she ran towards you. We tried to yell to her to stop but she was already too far away. Luckily Matthew got to her just in time and grabbed her before she could run any farther. If he hadn't she would have been caught in that blast."

"She was coming after me?"

"She was. When that bus exploded, April fell apart. The screams that emitted from that tiny girl, I've never in my life heard so much pain be portrayed in a scream."

That was all Jackson needed to hear before he was ripping out his I.V. and pulling the blankets from his legs. Callie tried to stop him, told him to lay back down, but he wasn't having any of it.

"Jackson, stop, you need to stay still to heal."

"I don't care. I'll heal later. I need to find April."

Callie smiled as she watched him go through the curtains out into the hospital to find his girl. She knew that those two would hash it out and that they would be fine. Maybe once he had a makeout session with the love of his life, she could get him back into the bed to heal his arm and shoulder. After all, she loved romance, but she was a doctor and she wanted to correct his bones. Watching him walk further down the hall she whispered, "Good luck, Jackson."

* * *

"April! April!" Jackson was shouting as he walked down the hallways of the hospital.

"Avery!"

Jackson turned and saw Chief Hunt walking towards him.

"Dr. Avery, what are you doing? You are supposed to be down in the pit, laying in bed. You may be some kind of super hero but even super hero's need to take it easy sometimes."

"Um, no time Dr. Hunt. I really have to do something. Have you seen Dr. Kepner?"

"I have. Just a little while ago. I sent her to the on call room in the east wing of the second floor to take a nap. She looked like she could use it."

"Thank you. I promise to get back to resting soon, but first I have to go see April."

With that, Chief Hunt watched the plastic surgeon speed walk down the hallway to the elevator, no doubt as fast as he could without hurting his shoulder.

When Jackson opened the door to the oncall room on the second floor it was dark. He could see a bit with the light from the hallway flooding in and he saw April was sleeping on the cot. Her hair was still a mess, still up in the ponytail she had been wearing before the bus crashed, and with the water pieces of her hair had become matted to her face. He closed the door behind him and walked closer to her. Sitting down on the bed he reached his hand out to nudge her shoulder.

"April. Wake up, April."

She stirred in her sleep. He knew she was probably exhausted, but he couldn't wait any longer. He had to speak to her. He could tell when he touched her that her scrubs were still damp after being soaked from the rain earlier. She must not have had the opportunity to change.

"Come on, April. It's Jackson."

April opened her eyes and yawned. Looking at him, her eyes widened as if she had just realized who was waking her up.

"Oh, Jackson. What are you doing here? You aren't supposed to be here, you are supposed to be resting."

Jackson didn't waste one more second of time. He grabbed her with his good arm and he kissed her, hard. Putting all of his emotions into that kiss so that she would know how he felt.

"I love you April. I love you. God it feels so good to say that."

"You, you do?"

"Of course, I never stopped loving you April. I've just been scared, and I haven't handled it very well. You told me earlier though, that you wanted me. I want you, too. Here's your reason to not get married. Because I want to marry you, I want to grow old with you and have a bunch of little Avery babies with you."

"You do?"

"More than anything in this world."

April let out a tiny sob. "You don't know how happy I am to hear you say that." She reached up to give him another kiss. "What made you change your mind?"

"What do you mean? I never changed my mind, I have always been in love with you. I've just been trying to guard my heart because I've been afraid of getting hurt. I thought you didn't want me anymore since you were with Matthew and I've been trying to move on, but I can't deny it April, I don't want anyone else but you."

"You really want to spend your life with me?"

"Of course I do. I can't wait to start our life together. But I have one rule."

April frowned. "What's that?"

"If we're going to be together, you have to make me a promise. No more running after burning buses to save me, alright?"

"Oh you heard about that huh?" April bit her lip.

Jackson nodded. "Yeah. I have to say that was probably the dumbest thing you could have done. I don't like it when you put yourself in harms way, especially for me."

"Well I didn't like it that you put yourself in harms way either. That bus could have killed you tonight. I don't know what I would do without you." April pouted.

"Let's just forgive each other and move on, alright? We're here and we are fine, and that's all that matters."

"Okay, but can you please go back down to the pit and climb back into bed. Your shoulder won't heal unless you stay still and without those meds, I'd say your pain will be returning in about half an hour."

Jackson stood up from the cot and turned back to her. "Alright Dr. Kepner, I can get back into bed, on one condition."

"What's that, Dr. Avery?"

"You come with me."

April smiled at Jackson. Reaching her hand out to him he pulled her up with his good arm. "I think I can do that."

* * *

Let me know what you think in a review. Thanks for reading!


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